by Morgan Fox
She relaxed her grip on Reyes. He was able to settle more securely on his elbows. Her heart fluttered, and she let out a giant sigh, amazed by the man gazing down at her. He looked so beautiful studying her, his eyes soft and loving.
He smiled. “Thank you, Megan. Thank you for sharing that moment with me. In all my life I never believed I’d find someone like you.” He kissed her lips gently.
Tenderly, he brushed the tears from her cheeks, and she smiled a warm, welcoming smile that caused her heart to jump and flip like an acrobatic gymnast. “I think I should be the one thanking you,” she told him, grinning with a mix of sweetness and pure lustful need heating her body.
Reyes chuckled. “I think you might have to give this old wolf a chance to recover. I’m afraid I’m not like the other young pups.”
Now it was her turn to laugh. “Young pups?” She scrunched her nose. “You make yourself sound ancient.” She squeezed his hard-as-steel ass. “Trust me when I tell you there is nothing ancient about you.” She kissed him and moaned at the soft caress of his lips. Her eyes suddenly heavy-lidded, she confessed, “I’m actually kind of tired anyway, but if you let me rest”—she cupped his ass and wickedly ran her nails up his back—“I’ll make it worth your while later.”
“Then by all means sleep, but you’ll have to do it in my bed because I don’t intend to let you out of my sight for the rest of the evening.” Reyes rolled to the side and dragged her possessively into the strong confines of his arms.
Nuzzling against the pillow, sleep was closer than she thought. She whispered, “I can handle that.”
* * * *
She fell asleep quickly, like an exhausted child after a long day of play. Reyes waited for her breathing to settle before carefully shifting his weight and easing himself off the bed. Placing a pillow under her head, he pulled the sheets up to tuck her in and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.
He reached for the door, but before he could turn the handle, he heard her stir. He glanced over his shoulder, and he smiled at the gorgeous green eyes staring back at him. Pink, pouty lips smiled deliciously, tempting him to return to his bed. Damn, he wanted to, but his growling stomach had other plans, and if he was going to impress his mate in the bedroom, he needed nourishment.
Stretching, Megan asked sleepily, “Where are you going?”
He smiled and told her, “To the kitchen.”
She flipped the sheets off her body, eased up off the bed, and sauntered toward him, locking her arms around his neck. “Give me a second to get cleaned up and I’ll join you. I’ll make you the best meal you’ve ever had.”
He arched a dark brow. “Are you planning to serve yourself as dessert?”
She rubbed her hips seductively against his engorged cock. “If you like, you can eat me as the appetizer, main course, and dessert. I guarantee you’ll love it.”
With a grin, he said, “Well, little vixen, I think you’re in luck. It just so happens I’m famished, and I have no doubt that I’d find you scrumptious.” He licked the seam of her lips, coaxing them open for a greedy kiss. “I have every intention of sampling that sweet pussy of yours.”
She giggled. “Good,” she said, returning his kiss with a feverish need. “I’m starving, too. Seems I’ve developed a taste for sexy, sophisticated, well-endowed men.” She cupped his cock in her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
He grunted. On a breathless whisper, he asked, “So you think I’m sexy?”
With a crooked grin, she said, “Hell yes.”
He took immediate possession of her mouth like a man starved for affections. Molding his hand at the back of her neck, he held her tight, her supple breasts pressing against his bare chest. The connection was electrifying.
She practically climbed up his body, wrapping her legs around his waist, bucking her hips against his pelvis as if trying to fuck him as they stood pressed up against the door, which he would have gladly done if not for the fact that he had already put on pants. That was a problem that was easily solved. His hands cupped the round globes of her firm, naked ass and pressed her more firmly against his hardening cock. The wild scent of her pussy filled his nostrils, driving him beyond lustful reasons.
Pressing tender kisses to her cheek, jaw, and throat, he licked along the column of her neck, tasting the divine essence of his mate. He licked his lips. Her flesh was a flavor he would never get tired of tasting, and he hoped he had a lifetime of sampling ahead of him.
Swallowing her moan, he teased her lips apart, deepening the kiss. His tongue dove deep into her wet mouth, exploring every nuance. She tasted of pure passion and pleasure, and he would never be satisfied. It would never be enough, no matter how many times he kissed her or they made love. He could never get enough of his mate. She was an obsession, one that made his heart do funny sentimental things.
“If we don’t stop, we’ll have to order in takeout,” she teased, giggling as she kissed his lips in quick little nips.
With a frustrated groan, he released his fierce hold on her hips, allowing her to stand on her own. He rested his forehead against hers. “You’re right,” he muttered. “Grab my robe hanging on the back of my bathroom door. When you’re ready, I’ll meet you downstairs.” One final kiss to her soft, sweet lips and he let her walk toward his bathroom without stopping her, admiring the sexy sway of her hips.
Inhaling deeply, he grabbed the doorknob and left his room. Rounding the corner just before the staircase, he found Dominic staring back at him. His friend looked like hell, swollen eyes and bloodied lips that screamed for vengeance. Someone had gotten the best of his big friend, and that never happened.
Wrapping a solid arm around his midsection, Dominic asked, “Feel better now?”
Reyes ignored his friend’s sarcastic question. “Damn, man, you look like shit. What the hell happened?”
Dominic groaned and winced with the sting of pain as he passed by Reyes in the hallway, shouldering his way toward his own bedroom, a place he stayed whenever he came to visit Reyes. “I had a run-in with Lilly. Seems she wasn’t satisfied with only terrorizing Megan tonight.” He glanced up and down Reyes’s frame, focusing for a lingering moment on his engorged crotch. “Looks like Megan’s doing just fine from the sight and scent of you. Glad I left her in your capable hands.” Dominic whipped his head around, facing away from Reyes. The gruff and angered roar of his voice practically shook the room as he said, “I hope you enjoyed fucking her while I was getting my ass handed to me.”
Reyes glanced down. A wave of guilt kicked him right in the nuts. Searching for what to say, he met Dominic’s gaze head-on. “There was no possible way I could’ve known Lilly would return, and you know that. You also know that Megan means more to me than just sex, Dominic. I hope you’ll come to understand that.”
He nodded, turned, and entered his room, muttering, “Fuck you” as he slammed the door in Reyes’s face.
Reyes pressed his hands flat against the thick wood door. “Wait, Dominic, we need to talk about what happened to you,” he murmured through the door, pretending he hadn’t heard or felt the sting of Dominic’s cold words.
“It doesn’t matter,” Dominic mumbled. “Now go away and leave me alone.”
Things were going to be difficult now that a woman had come between them. Was Dominic concerned about Lilly or pissed that he’d made love with Megan? Either way, it sucked and left him wondering if anything would ever be the same.
“Okay, my friend. I’ll leave you alone now, but we’ll talk soon and figure out what we need to do.”
Dominic didn’t reply, and Reyes knew his wounds ran deeper than the scrapes and cuts he’d seen on his body. His heart and pride had been wounded as well, and Reyes didn’t know how he could help his friend, because no matter the friendship, he wasn’t going to give up Megan without a fight, and even then it might take death.
Shirtless and barefoot, Reyes scurried down the carpeted staircase and made his way toward the kitchen, practically skipping and hummi
ng as he blocked out his words with Dominic and concentrated on his mate. He never hummed. Megan was proving to be a delicious and charming treat, one he hoped reciprocated his affections. After the hours they’d spent adoring each other, he had a pretty good indication that she did. Smiling, he admitted to himself that she made him happy, and for the first time in his life, he felt alive and ready to tackle any obstacle, as long as she was at his side.
Rounding the corner, his gaze drifted over two brawny men sitting on the couches in his living room adjacent to the kitchen. Stopping abruptly in front of Ryder O’Laughlin, who was sipping coffee from one of his favorite mugs, Reyes narrowed his eyes.
“Ryder,” he said suspiciously.
Glancing up, Ryder grinned. “Good morning, Reyes. You sound in marvelous spirits this morning.”
“I was,” he drawled, annoyed that a member of the were-panther pack sat cozy in his living room and he hadn’t even known he’d arrived for a visit. They must’ve arrived with Dominic? Reyes spent enough of his business life mingling with other packs. He didn’t want it to carry over into his private life as well.
Inclining his head to the side, Ryder gestured to the shaggy, blond-haired man dressed in dark jeans and a black body-molded T-shirt sitting to his left, reading the morning paper. “This is Bryce Sullivan, a member of my pack.”
Ryes would’ve groaned with irritation, but he truly didn’t want to seem rude. However, the last thing he wanted in his home was two were-panthers. “Great,” he said unenthusiastically. “Why are you and Bryce in my home?”
Ryder’s brow furrowed. “Dominic didn’t tell you?”
Reyes mimicked the awkward stare projected from Ryder. “If Dominic told me anything, I wouldn’t need to ask you.”
Ryder nodded in understanding and stood, standing eye to eye with him. “Very true,” he said. “Last night Bryce and I were heading to the clinic to talk with Megan about Mason’s blood. Our people want to know what you’ve been able to discover about the virus, since it started with a were-panther.”
“A hybrid,” Reyes corrected.
“Regardless,” Ryder said, moving. “When we arrived, a mean bitch of a vampire was kicking the shit out of your big friend.”
Lilly. He cringed as he repeated her name again and again in his mind. “Why didn’t she try to kill you, too?”
Ryder shrugged. “Strangely, she didn’t want to fight us. She did, however, sniff me and said I smelled just like him. I’m assuming she meant Mason.”
Reyes scratched his whiskered jaw. “Makes sense,” he said in a low, husky tone.
“What does?” Bryce finally chimed in.
Reyes met the large were-panther’s gaze head-on, the cool flare of gold swirling in the depths of his eyes. “She was in love with Mason, believe it or not. That’s why she was attacking Dominic. She attacked Megan earlier today.”
Ryder’s spine went stiff and instantly he took a step closer to Reyes. “Is she all right?”
“Yes, she’s fine.”
Bryce dropped the crinkled newspaper on the couch and folded his arms over his chest. “Do you think that the vampire was after Mason’s body?”
“No. She wants revenge.” The soft flutter of Megan’s voice sliding into his ears caused Reyes to glance over his shoulder.
A freshly showered and exquisitely beautiful, red-haired temptress gazed at him. Never had he seen her look at him with such familiarity. There was a subtle spark of intimacy and respect firing between them, and he suddenly wanted her hand clasped in his. Instinctively, he reached out for her, and she willingly placed her hand in his.
“Well.” Ryder snickered, glancing from Reyes to Megan and back again. “Seems one of us has finally secured his mate.”
Reyes’s gaze drifted over Megan’s face at the acknowledgement of being called his mate, praying he would see nothing in her expression other than what he’d witnessed all evening as they made love. To his heart’s desire, he saw her smiling with a slight blush coating her cheeks. His heart skipped.
“Gentleman,” Reyes addressed them, “if you don’t mind, my mate and I are hungry. Please leave the number where you’ll be, Ryder, and when Megan is up to discussing the details of Mason’s autopsy, she can reach out to you.”
Before he and Bruce showed themselves out, Ryder winked at Megan, teasing, “You two lovebirds enjoy yourselves, but please don’t keep me waiting too long, Megan.” Before he left the room, he turned once more to face her. “If by chance I don’t hear from you, I’m sure I’ll see you soon at the McCarthy wedding. Until such time—” He bowed his head, turned, and left.
Chapter Ten
Megan knew that Reyes was taking curious pleasure in watching her bustle around the kitchen in search of dishes, pots, and pans, and whatever other items were needed to make her splendid concoction. She promised a meal he would thoroughly enjoy, but not nearly as much as she would enjoy retreating back to his bedroom, a thought she couldn’t strike from her mind, and she didn’t really want to. At the moment, a protein energy bar would have satisfied her. The desire to have him buried deep inside her pussy once more was all-consuming and mind-numbingly enticing.
The tingle of his gaze burrowed its way into her skin, coating her in delicious currents of prevailing arousal and spellbinding allure. Grinning, she couldn’t help but call him out on his fevered stares because if she didn’t dinner was never going to be prepared.
She stretched to reach a dish located on the top shelf of one of the cabinets, and said with brevity, “Stop looking at me like that, Reyes.”
As if sensing her inner desires to have him near, he reached above her and grabbed the dish she was struggling to seize. Even at her tall height, she would have needed a little help, which she received with a glowing smile. The rough, masculine rumble of his words was silkily whispered in her ear, sending wave after wave of tingles racing up and down her spine.
“Looking at you like what?” he asked, sounding perplexed.
She whirled to face him, chest to chest. She pressed her hands against the firm slabs of rock-hard strength. With a coy smile, she moved her hands seductively to tease her fingertips against the peach-fuzz hair on the back of his head and said shamelessly, “You know exactly what look I’m referring to.”
Reyes hauled her up into his arms. She moaned at the sudden rush of blood that warmed her pussy. As her ass planted firmly against the countertop, she captured the heat of his kiss in greedy anticipation. Wild and uninhibited, he was on her like a savage beast, his mouth tearing at hers with voracious need.
Panting, she worked the buttons of his jeans and her hand dove inside, gripping his swollen cock, stroking and fondling him with unbound desire. His feral growl turned her body inside out, dissolving her bones. Liquid heat saturated her cunt as he continued to swell in her grasp.
“Oh, God,” she moaned as his mouth clamped down on her collarbone. He leaned her back and then captured her T-shirt-covered nipple. Her fingers massaged his scalp as the pull of desire laid claim to her body once more. So hungry, her body begged and begged for more. “I want you, Reyes. I want you to fuck me.” She pulled his head up to meet her gaze. “Right here, right now.” Her body was filled with lustful urgency, and she took possession of his lips again.
* * * *
Like everything associated with bad timing, the vision was unwanted. The vision of Dominic’s battered body jumped into Reyes’s head, and he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. Was the feeling swirling in his gut guilt or jealousy?
Shit. He wanted Megan more than anything, but at the same time, he didn’t want to ruin any chance he had at keeping his friend his friend.
A ghost of a smile on his face, Reyes inclined his head slightly toward Megan. “As much as I want to rip your clothes off of you and fuck you right here in my kitchen, perhaps we should wait till we’re truly alone in the house.”
She gasped, her eyes flaring wide as she understood Reyes’s meaning. “Dominic’s home?”
“You didn’t know?”
She shook her head. “All I can smell is you,” she admitted, her cheeks blazing bright red. Damn, he loved to see her blush. “How long has he been home?”
With a scowl, he said, “Ryder and Bryce brought him home. He’s resting now.”
Megan’s brows pinched tightly together as her eyes searched his expression for clarity. “Why did he need a ride home? Did something happen?” The panic from her voice churned inside him and sank deep into his stomach, knotting with nerves of unease.
Brushing back a few strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail, he did his best to soothe her. He could feel the shift in energy between them, knew she was worried about Dominic, but for whatever reason, he didn’t want to tell her about his vampire-filled evening. “Dominic’s fine. Ryder went to the clinic to find you, and that’s why he was here. He had hoped to learn what you’ve discovered from Mason’s autopsy.”
“Oh,” she said, not sounding as convinced as he would have liked, so he quickly changed the subject.
“What exactly have you decided to make us to eat?” He glanced at the gathered ingredients on the counter beside them.
“Thanks to whoever stocks your pantry and refrigerator,” she said with unspoken curiosity, exchanging a whimsical glance with him, “I was going to prepare a simple but wonderful family dish—pasta with marinara, complemented by a delicious Greek salad.”
Pulling her back into his strong hold, he asked, “Anything I can do to help?”
She playfully shoved at his chest. “You can go over there and sit.”
“Fair enough,” he said with a chuckle, and then stuck his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout.
“Go,” she said firmly, pointing in the direction of the barstool. The same one she had occupied earlier.
He did as she commanded, and again, he marveled at her grace. For a well-respected doctor with a medical practice to run and a supernatural case to solve, she sure did seem at ease in the kitchen, like she had spent years learning the craft, which he found ridiculous with a schedule like she had.
